


Variations of Love

by Lullabymoon



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-06
Updated: 2011-01-06
Packaged: 2017-10-17 15:28:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/178295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lullabymoon/pseuds/Lullabymoon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When McCoy found out about Pike and Christine, he couldn't tell if he was disgusted or jealous.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Variations of Love

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [](http://www.livejournal.com/users/helly_uk/profile)[**helly_uk**](http://www.livejournal.com/users/helly_uk/) for the [](http://www.livejournal.com/users/mccoy_chapel/profile)[**mccoy_chapel**](http://www.livejournal.com/users/mccoy_chapel/) holiday exchange. Hope you enjoy it!
> 
> Prompt: McCoy/Chapel/Pike. When McCoy found out about Pike and Christine, he couldn't tell if he was disgusted or jealous.

There was a part of Len that enjoyed watching his staff scurry about avoiding him, the same part of him that enjoyed the stinging of his hand where he’d hit the bulkhead. His temper didn't lessen as the shift carried on and after lunch, with pressure from a nursing staff that looked ready to mutiny, he locked himself in his office, only coming out when he was needed.

When shift ended, he slouched off towards his quarters, intending on opening whatever bourbon he had left, only to be intercepted by Jim who threw an arm round his shoulders and steered him in the direction of his own quarters. At least the man had the decency to wait until he'd had his first drink before speaking.

"So, anything I should be worried about?"

Len grunted as he poured another drink.

"I mean, it's not every day I hear about the nursing staff on the verge of mutiny." Jim seemed content to merely sip his own drink.

"C'mon, Bones, Chrissy looked ready to strangle someone when I saw her at lunch."

"Nothing happened."

"You punched the bulkhead, Bones! You normally just scowl when something's wrong."

"Nothing happened." Len repeated.

"You, ahh, you finally got around to asking her to dinner then?"

"No."

"No?" Jim looked bewildered. "Then what?"

"I went to ask her but she was with someone." Len finished another glass and reached for the bottle.

"I could always have them transferred."

Len snorted into his glass. "Somehow, I don’t think so."

There was silence as they drank some more. "She didn't mention anyone."

"Well, she wouldn't would she? Wouldn’t want anyone think she was sleeping her way up." The alcohol he'd drank was starting to show and Len sounded bitter.

"Pike?" Jim sounded astonished.

Len nodded glumly.

"I thought he," Jim trailed off. "So you've pissed of your staff because you're jealous." Jim looked thoughtfully into space.

"I'm not jealous!"

"C'mon, Bones, this is me you're talking to!"

"He's old enough to be her father, why would I be jealous?" Len poured yet another glass as Jim snorted.

"Even you find him hot so you can’t blame Chrissy." Len spluttered his drink. "Don’t deny it Bones, I've known you too long."

Len paused and looked into his drink. "Okay, maybe."

"You find him hot or you're jealous?"

"Both." He downed his drink and refilled his glass. "I just thought we were going somewhere, and I didn't think she was like that."

"You didn’t say what happened."

"I went to ask her to dinner, found her with Pike."

"Doing what?"

"They were rumpled, sprang apart."

"Oh."

"Yeah, oh." Jim poured the drinks this time.

"I thought he was with..."

"So did I."

"You need to talk to her, Bones, find out what's going on."

"I know what's going on!"

"C'mon, Bones, how may times have we seen something that's not the full story? Out here that can get us killed." Jim looked deadly serious.

"All right, all right. I'll talk to her tomorrow."

"Apologise as well."

"Jim,"

"We need a nursing staff, Bones. They'll mutiny otherwise."

Len nodded and they poured another round of drinks.

* * *

Next morning, last nights resolve to talk to her had vanished, replaced by a thumping headache and an accompanying hangover.

The resolve to be less of a tyrant around Sickbay had also vanished if the looks his staff and Jim gave him at lunch were any indication.

He paused in the doorway after lunch and found Chris talking to one of her nurses. He headed for her when she finished and asked her into his office. He gestured for her to sit as he perched in his desk, but she shook her head and stayed standing.

"I want to apologise," he cleared his throat, "I've been…"

"A complete bear?" As ever, she was perfectly willing to help call him out on his behaviour.

"Yeah. I'm sorry."

She raised an eyebrow at him when it was clear he wasn't going to say anything else.

"Are we going to be privileged enough to know why you've been acting like a complete bear?"

Len's jaw tightened and she snorted. "Just as well the Captain told me earlier then." She turned on her heel and stormed out. He watched her through his window as she returned to work before he locked his door.

* * *

"Dammit Jim!" he stormed into Jim's quarters as soon as shift ended. "Why the hell would you talk about that to her?"

Jim tried to look remorseful. "I thought you had told her! And then, well, you need a helping hand."

Len looked like he wanted to hit something again but instead threw himself down into the other chair.

"What exactly happened, Bones?"

"After lunch, I apologised."

"Didn't go down well?" Jim looked sympathetic.

"She asked me why I’d acted like that in the first place and I, I sort of froze." He looked towards the drinks tray.

Jim snorted. "No alcohol for you tonight." Len opened his mouth to protest. "You need to be sober to grovel."

"Grovel?"

"Possibly beg."

"Jim!"

"Chrissy told me exactly what's going on and you need to talk to her."

"She told you?" Len looked bewildered at the thought.

"I do possess some Captaining skills. Besides, I promised to knock some sense into you."

"Jim…" Len looked lost.

"C'mon, Bones, it'll be fine. You just need to talk to her. And apologise properly." Jim dragged Len out of the chair and out of his quarters and walked with him in the direction of crew quarters. Jim left him alone when he reached Chris' door and had vanished by the time Len rang for admittance.

When she saw it was him at the door, she frowned and crossed her arms. Knowing this was indicative of her temper he started. "Can I come in?" She raised an eyebrow and didn't budge. "I need to apologise."

This calmed her enough to let him past and he shuffled from one foot to the other as she waited in silence.

"I'm sorry, I was a complete ass and I'm sorry."

She nodded. "Are you going to tell me why you were a complete ass?"

"Didn't Jim tell you?"

"He did, I just want you to tell me."

She sat in her comfortable chair, crossed her legs and waited for him to start talking. He stood nervously fidgeting for a minute.

"I saw you with Pike." He managed. When he met her gaze, her expression had softened and she sighed.

"I've been seeing Chris on and off since before the mission started." Len's eyes widened at this and she stood and paced. "I thought you knew!"

"He's practically married!"

"She knows! And I shouldn’t have to defend myself to you." Chris' voice had risen as well.

Len stood still and she took advantage of his silence. "Is that really it's all about? Nothing at all to do with the fact that we've been flirting?"

"All right, perhaps I am a bit jealous."

"A bit? You've punched bulkheads and terrorised my staff for the last two days."

"I thought we were going somewhere. My mistake!" He started to walk out of her quarters but Chris grabbed his arm and pushed him down into the chair.

"Now listen here, you don’t get to storm out of here and be a bear for the next week!" He tried to rise again but she pushed him back down.

"I honestly thought you knew about me and Chris, and were okay with it."

"How?"

"Because you kept flirting with me and stayed out of our way when Chris and I had the chance to meet up." She looked down at her hands. "I thought we were going somewhere as well."

The fight left him and he leaned back into the chair. Chris sat down on the coffee table in front of him.

"Chris and I are…" Chris paused, "friends, who sometimes have sex when we cross paths. I care for him a lot, but it's not lovelove."

"Lovelove?"

She swatted him on the knee. "You know what I mean."

"Yeah." He frowned. "And his," he cleared his throat, "she's okay with it?"

"One knows and has her own friends." At his look she carried on. "Space is a big place." She shrugged but watched his reaction closely. He said nothing further and she sat silently as he worked though the information.

He sighed. "D'you honestly think we're heading somewhere?" He sounded almost shy.

Chris nodded. "If you want." She bit her lip but before she said anything else he stood. "I'd better get going."

"Len,"

"You should enjoy your last night with him on board." His smile was small and somewhat forced. "We can talk later."

"I… thank you." She smiled back at him and he left quickly.

The doors to his quarters shut behind him and he leaned back against the bulkhead and sighed. "What the hell have I got into?"

* * *

Len was certainly in a better mood the next day, but he still locked himself in his office and tried to avoid everyone, especially Jim, who seemed determined to know what had happened.

Near the end of shift, after being successful in avoiding discussing anything personal with anyone, he was interrupted by an incoming message marked priority flashing up on his screen. The sending ship was the Yorktown and it took him a minute to place the ship before he opened it.

Captain One's message was short and to the point, cutting through all his doubts and essentially kicking his ass into gear.

He needed to talk to Chris.

Of course, life wasn't so cooperative. An outbreak of Andorian measles prevented him from talking to her properly for the next few days, but eventually he managed to turn up at her quarters with a box of cookies and a bottle of wine salvaged from God-knows-where, determined to get on her good side and sort things out.

Glass in hand, she sat curled up in her chair opposite him. "I got a message from Captain One the other day."

Her lips quirked upwards. "Anything interesting?"

"She told me to stop being an idiot and go after you."

Chris laughed. "I think Chris may have talked to her."

"It's going to take a while for me to think of him as Chris, instead of Pike."

Chris froze, her glass halfway to her mouth and a stunned expression on her face.

"Well, I should get to know your friends, shouldn’t I?"

She managed to recover enough to speak, "Yes, but I don’t sleep with all my friends."

He looked down at his glass, gathering courage before looking back at her. "Yeah, well, not all your friends are as attractive."

She raised an eyebrow. "I know he's your friend but, but I think I'm," he paused and a smile blossomed on his face, "heading towards lovelove with you."

She sniggered at his use of the phrase, but looked happy and shifted to sit beside him. "I think I might be falling in lovelove as well." She smiled somewhat shyly and he held his arm up and she curled into his side.

They sat quietly for a while, processing their admissions and enjoying sitting together.

She broke the silence. "I'll need to send a message to Chris." He looked askance at her. "Explaining," she added.

"Chris, I don’t want you to stop doing what makes you happy"

"Yes, but,"

"He and One manage it."

"And they were… settled before they managed it. We're just starting."

He was silent for a minute. "When will you see him next?"

She thought for a moment. "When the Enterprise heads back to Earth."

"That's what, ten months? That gives us time."

"Len,"

"I'm not promising I can manage, but I want to try this with you." He turned his head to look properly at her. "I trust you and I'm not crazy enough to stop you from doing something you want to do, 'specially if you were doing it before I came along." He smiled ruefully at this last and she smirked as she curled back into his side, head on his shoulder. "You still might want to message Pike though. Tell him I've stopped being an idiot." She sniggered again.

"You just don’t want to get another message from One."

"Damn right I don’t."

* * *

10 months later:

Enterprise had docked and there was only a skeleton crew remaining as Chris and Len beamed down to San Francisco. They wandered the streets, hand in hand, and paused as they approached a specific apartment building.

"We don’t have to do this if you're not comfortable." Chris bit her bottom lip.

Len shook his head at her question. "I want to." He kissed her quickly and grinned. "I've started looking forward to it."

"Really?" Chris smiled.

His grin widened. "I've gotten to know him quite well these last few months." He squeezed her hand and kissed her quickly. "C'mon, we don’t want to keep him waiting." He gently pulled her the few remaining steps towards the apartment building door and she pressed the buzzer for apartment 1A.

"Chris, we're here."

"About time." Pike's voice sounded through the speaker and she laughed as the door buzzed open.

  
 


End file.
